


My Peace Always Depended on All the Ashes in My Wake

by glow593



Series: Savour the Taste of Sugar [1]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, my attempt at joker's backstory, set in tmptms universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:55:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25237294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glow593/pseuds/glow593
Summary: Jack Napier has a Bad Day
Series: Savour the Taste of Sugar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812967
Comments: 8
Kudos: 4





	My Peace Always Depended on All the Ashes in My Wake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LChan3706](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LChan3706/gifts).



> this is the story of how Joker got his scars in my universe for my story Take My Past, Take My Sense.  
> title from Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier  
> gifted to Lchan3706 for being such a huge inspiration in getting me to write at all!

Jack Napier was always a  _ strange  _ child. Disliked by his peers and barely noticed by adults. When they did notice him it was never for anything good.  _ Too serious, too mean, always alone, no fun, he should smile more.  _ Some of the words that had followed him from childhood into the teenage years into adulthood.

It didn’t bother him though. He had never really thought highly of what other people thought or felt about him. They were beneath him. They could never really follow his train of thought either, so why waste time on theirs?  _ Still _ , he couldn’t help but pick up on the patterns that led to their actions and thoughts. So  _ easy _ to predict. Could he really be blamed for manipulating them?

There was no one to condemn his actions anyways. And he certainly didn’t do it personally. It was like the space where empathy and other such useless emotions should be was empty. Which didn’t bother him, if he was honest.

Jack was used to being alone, to not having anyone care about him. His home-life was far from ideal. His mother emotionally absent and a father that drank, which didn’t improve his temper.

So, it didn’t surprise anyone when he dropped out of school. Not like he showed up there much anyway. That isn’t to say he wasn’t _ smart _ . He was. Smarter than the average schmuck. Of course, he never really used those smarts for what others would consider  _ good things _ .

He had always stolen little things when he needed them, but after dropping out he started doing it for the rush of it. Bigger, bolder, better. No one could match the plans he laid. And they couldn’t catch him either.

He started learning how to use different weapons and quickly found knives to be his favorite. It let him be up close and personal. Guns had their uses, but you couldn’t savor the different emotions people made. So sue him, he was a bit of sadist.

The attitude of being untouchable is what got him in trouble a lot. No one liked the mouthy kid that knew everything. Still, the words followed him,  _ so serious, he should smile more. _

This is what led up to his Bad Day.

Jack wasn’t home a lot, not needing that much sleep and it wasn’t like he could cook either. So, when he came back to the apartment and his mom actually wanted to talk to him, he was… surprised to say the least. She was a mess — an understatement — with tears and mascara running down her cheeks, nose red, and eyes swollen. It did nothing but wake contempt in him.

“Jack, your dad, he’s… he’s gone,” she said, trying to suppress the tears and not being successful.

“Oh? Good riddance” was all he answered, before going to his room for sleep.

He was woken up by a loud racket and the sound of his mother screaming. Jumping up he wondered what the fuck was going on, and his answer came to him in the form of his door being smashed open, slamming against the wall.

A man stood in the doorway, and Jack recognized him as one of Falcone’s loan sharks.

“Get up, kid, we’ve got business to discuss,” Jack was confused but didn’t let it show, his face set in his usual serious mine. Moving from where he had jumped up, he went past the man into the living room, receiving a hard shove in the back as he passed the man, “hurry up!”

He was pissed, but there was nothing he could do about it. In the living room, four more men were waiting. His mother on the couch, still weeping. He gritted his teeth. Honestly, he couldn’t care less about what happened to her, but he knew what they were here for, and knew, just  _ knew _ , that this was going to end badly for him, and there was nothing he could do about it. Yes, he had a few knives on him, but they were five and already had their guns out. He could maybe get one or two of them, depending on where they were standing before they shot him, and he had no intention of dying yet. Better to bide his time and do what they said, and maybe he could get out alive.

With a gesture from one of the men in the living room, the guy that shoved him and one of the others grabbed him by the arms and forced him to his knees. He didn’t put up a lot of struggle, knowing that it would make no difference.

“So, that’s his kid?” the guy that had gestured said. The highest-ranking one, judging by how the others were deferring to him.

“Yeah, what’re we gonna do with him. I’ve seen him around the streets, always so serious” said the guy that had shoved him. Jack was even more pissed off by his own helplessness in the situation. Never before had he been in a situation where he had no options. He promised himself that it would never happen in the future. 

The leader started laughing, “Oh yeah, I’ve seen him too. Why don’t we help him out with that? Give him a  _ nice big smile _ !”

The men started laughing too, and Jack started struggling for real. No, this couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t fair! His dad was the one that owed Falcone, not him! The men laughed at Jack’s futile struggles while the men holding him swore and held him tighter. One of the men had found a knife in his jacket and was coming forward. Jack snarled and bit out at him, the man took a step back laughing. A constrained 17-year-old on his knees not scaring the hardened mobster. The man managed to grab his jaw and put the knife in the corner of his mouth. Jack stilled all action at this. Fear hitting him. He wasn’t unused to pain, but this would be a new level of it.

The man with the knife paused and looked at him, “sorry, kid”, and then he slit the knife through Jack’s cheek like it was butter. He screamed. The pain more than he had ever experienced before. Reaching the top of his cheek, the man removed the knife and slit it through his other cheek. They dropped Jack on the floor. Tears unwillingly streaming from his eyes and the pain overwhelming him.

“Oh,” said the leader as they were walking out the door, “kill the wife, too”

A gunshot sounded and Jack’s mom collapsed on the couch, a scream caught in her throat, before bleeding out on it. He honestly didn’t care about it. The pain was blinding and he barely registered the front door shutting after them. 

This. Wasn’t.  _ Fair _ .

It was the only thought running through his head, as he tried to will himself to get up. He  _ would _ make them pay. He would make everyone pay. 


End file.
